Five police were killed as a roadside bomb planted by Taliban militants struck a police van Sunday morning in south Afghanistan, police officer General Abdul Razaq said.

"The police were on routine patrol in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province this morning when their vehicle overran a mine planted by rebels leaving five constables dead," Razaq told Xinhua.

Meantime, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit in talks with media via telephone from unknown location claimed responsibility, saying eight police were killed in the blast.

Also on the same day, unknown armed men shot dead a member of intelligence service in Kandahar city, the capital of Kandahar province.